A 43-year-old man who was on his way to Bengaluru from Pavanje near Mangaluru in Karnataka died on Sunday, January 2, after a tree fell on him, police said. The deceased was identified as Suresh Navada, an employee of a software company in Bengaluru. He was travelling with his wife and two children. He had come to his mother's house at Pavanje in Dakshina Kannada district on December 23. The family was on their way back to Bommanahalli in Bengaluru.

The police said that Suresh stopped the car at Addahole near Shiradi Ghat after hearing some sound in the car. When he got down from the vehicle to check it, a tree fell on him. He died on the spot while his wife and both children escaped unhurt, the police added. The car was also damaged in the incident. A case has been registered by the Uppinangady police.

In a similar incident in neighbouring Tamil Nadu on Saturday, January 1, a 58-year-old watchman died after a tree got uprooted and fell on him amid heavy rains in the state's Erode district. Due to heavy rains accompanied by winds on Saturday evening, a drumstick tree got uprooted and fell on 58-year-old Karuppasamy, a native of Tirupathur district, killing him on the spot.

According to police, the watchman had come to Erode a few months ago and was working as a watchman at a private vacant land in Vairapalayam, a suburb of Erode. Amid the downpour, Karuppasamy was cleaning vessels under a tree. Due to the gale, the tree got uprooted and Karuppasamy was crushed to death on the spot.

When Karuppasamy's son could not reach him on his phone, he informed the land owner and subsequently, his body was found under the tree on Sunday morning. The owner informed the Karungalpalayam police, who registered an accidental death case due to rain and began an investigation.

With PTI inputs